


and even the gods know loss

by echelons



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Found Family, Gen, X-Men Gold (2017) #35, discussion of canonical character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 12:46:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15908553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echelons/pseuds/echelons
Summary: Ororo is grieving, and for once, it's Kitty who comforts her.Coda to X-Men Gold #35.





	and even the gods know loss

Kitty found Ororo on the roof of the mansion. She was sitting cross-legged, her back perfectly straight and her face as serene as always. The sun was low in the sky, making the red clay tiles glow as if on fire and turning Ororo’s silky hair into spun gold. Kitty floated behind her and remembered how she’d looked earlier, standing over dozens of graves as the light of a new day had crept over the horizon.

“Hey, Ro,” she said, landing on the roof with a soft _thump_. She sat down carefully, pulling her knees up to her chest and clasping her hands around them. “How are you doing?”

In response, Ororo passed what she had been holding to Kitty. It was a photograph. It looked old, and though the paper was high quality, heavy and glossy, it had obviously been worn by time. It showed a woman, wearing a bright green dress, dancing in an old bar. She looked very familiar, from her dark skin and light eyes to the curve of her nose and the arch of her brows. She was smiling unreservedly, and she looked carefree in a way her daughter rarely did.

“She’s beautiful,” Kitty said, handing the photograph back. “It’s a wonderful photo.”

“My father took it,” Ororo said. “He was quite the photographer.”

“He was a professional, right? Some kind of photojournalist?”

“Yes. We moved to Cairo for his work.” Ororo’s eyes were on the horizon, but there was a distance in them, as if she was watching the discussion, so long ago, when her parents had agreed to leave New York for the continent of Africa. “Mother was happy about that. She hated Brooklyn. It was filthy and freezing, she said.”

“I’m sorry about your parents.” Kitty could feel the inadequacy of the words. Every time one of her friends, her family was faced with a loss or grief she could not share, she could feel how hollow words were, and yet she knew they were all she had to offer.

“I have never understood my father,” Ororo said, after a moment. “I am Ororo, daughter of N’Dare, and I know what that means. I have her sense of honour, her courage, her ability to fight. But David Munroe is a mystery I cannot solve.”

“Why not?” Kitty asked, surprised.

“In my memories, he is kind, and he is funny, but he is somewhat meek. Not as strong-willed as his wife, not as decisive as he wanted to be. But…” Ororo looked down at the photo of her mother and traced her finger along the lines of her face. “But it takes a special kind of person to do the job my father did. Some blend of artistic inclination and moral integrity that I do not have or understand.”

She was silent for a moment, and Kitty watched the clouds, tinged pink and yellow from the sunset, move slowly across the sky. There was a beautiful stillness to the air. Kitty had long ago learned that grief did not confine itself to the ugly days of the year.

After a moment, Ororo said, “I would have liked the chance to figure it out.”

Kitty leaned over and wrapped her arms around Ororo, holding onto her friend, hoping all the sorrow and sympathy she could not find the words to express would be evident in the gesture. “I’m sorry,” she said, again, futilely.

“Death is a natural part of life,” Ororo said, her voice soft but clear. “It’s inevitable and necessary. Even when you get someone back, there’s always a cost. I knew- I _knew_ \- that I could not truly have them back. But I still wanted them to be real, and alive, and with me again.”

“Oh, Ororo! They’re your damned _parents_. Of course you did. Philosophizing is well and good, but when it’s your _family_ -” She broke off. After a moment she spoke again. “When I was a teenager, an entity called the Adversary tried to take over the world. No,” she said, holding up her hand, as Ororo tried to say something, “Don’t look like that, I’m not- I’m not still angry about it. But I watched you, and Logan, and Piotr, and nearly my entire family die on National Public Television. That feeling, like I’d lost everyone who understood me, like the ground had disappeared below me and I no longer knew who I was, that was devastating.

“I got lucky. I got so extraordinarily lucky, and my family came back. And it took a few years, but in the end, I came home to them, too. To you, Ororo. And it isn’t selfish for you to want the same chance for yourself.”

In the last rays of the setting sun, Kitty could see that Ororo was crying, tears falling down her cheeks as she kept her chin high. Kitty shifted closer to Ororo, and Ororo put her arm around Kitty. They stayed there on the roof, leaning on each other, until the light had faded to a dim twilight and the wind was chilly around them.

Then, softly, Ororo stood and kissed Kitty on the forehead. A gust of wind carried her to the ground, shutting the mansion doors behind her, and in another moment, Kitty faded away through the roof of the school.

In the morning, the sun would rise on graveyards in Kenya and New York alike. In the morning, the X-Men would suit up and fly out to meet whatever new evil had reared its head. In the morning, they would shoulder their burdens and try to shape a tomorrow that was a little brighter, a little happier, for everyone. But for tonight, at least, they could remember what it was that they had lost.

**Author's Note:**

> Had a lot of feelings about this issue, so I wrote them into this fic. I know in canon it's usually Ororo who is comforting Kitty, but I feel like now that Kitty's an adult, they're good friends and it goes both ways.
> 
> Ororo's backstory was originally revealed in Uncanny X-Men #102, and that's the version I'm building off here. The stuff with the Adversary is, of course, from Uncanny X-Men #225-227.


End file.
